Hello again, everyone! Breaking news on two fronts unrelated to temples has been reported by the Church within the last hour or so. The Newsroom, with additional context provided by the Church News has confirmed that Elder and Sister Gong have both tested posititive for COVID-19. As some of you may recall, due to having had contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19, Elder Gong had prerecorded his remarks for the recent General Conference, and neither he nor his wife attended conference in person.
What we do know at this point is that the Gongs are only experiencing very mild symptoms, and are actively involved in the process of contact tracing and self-isolation. This is the first time that a positive COVID-19 diagnosis has been provided for any of the Church's top leaders. That being said, with at least two former physicians as fellow apostles, and with Elder and Sister Gong adhering to the proper guidelines for self-isolation and contact tracing, I have no doubt they will both pull through. I urge all my readers in light of this news to join me in praying for the welfare and healing of Elder and Sister Gong.
In the meantime, it has been a time-honored tradition for the First Presidency to also urge Latter-day Saints in the United States to vote in the general elections each year. Usually, those invitiations and reminders come down the pike in mid-to-late October, so to have that earlier than usual underscores how impartant it may be for members of the Church and their friends of other faiths to participate in the political process. You can find more information on this year's invitation from the leading Quorum of the Church in the Newsroom and the Church News.
Although the Church as an institiution, and its' top leaders, of necessity, maintain the practice of political neutraility when it comes to all political candidates and most political or civil issues, with the exception to the latter occurrinlg when there is a solid doctrinally-based reason to oppose a meaure (fas we saw years ago when the Church mobilized some resources and issued a statement against California Proposition 8, which legalized same-sex marriage in that state), or where issues of human life are at stake (the subject of abortion comes to mind), or where any measure would trample on the rights of any religious organization (issues relating to religious freedom).
Those are the main exceptions of which I am presently aware in the recent past. Having shared the First Presidency statement and some relevant thoughts on that, I will just observe on a personal note that I urge any of my readers to prayerfully approach the process of voting especially this year. Pray about issues of concern, the candidates who have taken stands one way or another on those issues, and the character of the candidates themselves. If any of you find anything lacking in your current local or national leaders, it is a duty all Church members and friends of other faiths should hold dear to vote them out appropriately, and to seek to appoint leaders that will do the right thing for the right reasons in all important matters.
I hope that that statement was sufficiently politically neutral on my personal part here. As a citizen of the United States, I have my own thoughts about the upcoming election, but I have vowed to keep this place as a safe haven for my readers where all can express their opinions on the news shared and can share ideas as guided by the Spirit, and I am determined to personally hold myself to that standard. The one thing I will say is that, for so many in the United States, we are at a critical juncture where, in many cases, the leaders we select will shape the future of our nation and localities as we currently know them.
So I hope with that in mind that all of us will approach the privilege of voting as the solenm and sacred duty that it truly is. When we can do so, we will know we have discharged our obligation as citizens in accordance with the counsel given yearly and renenewed today by the First Presidency. For my part, I will continue to monitor all Church and temple news, and be sure to pass word of the latest developments on to you all here. I have no doubt that, coming out of the recent General Conference weekend, the best is yet to come prior to the end of the year.
I am also more than slightly surprised that the Church has not yet released the calendar of Churchwide events for next year, as that has typically happened during or just prior to Semptembe every year. Perhaps there are a few other details to iron out with that, since COVID-19 and a few other factors are definitiely unknown. I will keep my eyes open in that respect as well, and bring you all word of that here as I become aware of it.
That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Hello again, everyone! Just wanted to post a note here to follow-up on the report of Elder and Sister Gong's positive COVID-19 diagnosis. As some of you may recall, Elder Gong had been assigned to preside at the groundbreaking for the Taylorsville Utah Temple at some point this month, due in part to his wife's deep personal connections to Taylorsville Utah, on an unspecified date.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I would love it if the original arrangements were able to stand, due to the positive COVID-19 diagnosis for Elder and Sister Gong, I can see a scenario where the Church would either postpone that groundbreakng, and perhaps move up one or two others as a result, or where the groudnbreaking could take place later this month as arranged, but with some other apostle, general authority seventy (including the members of the Utah Area Presidency and their assistants), or area seventy. It is also slightly possible that, if Elder Gong is sufficiently recovered enough later this month, that he could preside remotely at that groundbreaking in a similar manner to what is planned next month for Elder Bednar's participation in the groundbreaking for the Bentonville Arkansas Temple I will be sure to monitor those plans specifically and will report any changes as I become aware thereof. My thanks once again to you all.
I have no doubt Elder Gong will pull through this. I’m just worried about any potential spread among the older general authorities.
ReplyDeleteSam, Jim Anderson already addressed your concern below, but I wanted to offer my two cents as well. The Church has been strict about taking precautions. Just in recent days alone, we have seen all Church leaders in attendance for each session of General Conference wearing a mask when they are not at the pulpit. We have also seen socially-distant spacing by all attendees. With President Nelson having been a heart surgeon, he knows enough about infectious diseases to ensure that general leadership is taking the proper precautions. So in that sense, even with the fact that Elder and Sister Gong have been confirmed as having COVID-19, the precautions they have taken prior to that diagnosis, and the precautions they have continued to take following positive testing will ensure that all other senior leaders do not have any in-person contact with the Gongs or any other contagious individual.
DeleteAnd the Church continues to adapt. We have recently read reports of congregations meeting with top Church leaders remotely. We have also just recently had a report on how at least one member of an area presidency whose assignment began in August has been able to begin his service remotely from Church headquarters. It appears that the COVID-19 pandemic has led Church leaders to think more outside the box than has ever been the case before, and that, while top Church leaders hope for a return to normalcy in their ministries after COVID-19 conditions are sufficiently under control, a few of them have noted very recently that changing the way they fulfill their roles during this pandemic may lead to a continued utilization of the new methods even after things go back to normal.
Additionally, this pandemic has also changed the game specifically through the usage of technology when in-person interactions aren't possible. That could have wide-spread effects on area, country, mission, and large-venue member meetings.
Sorry. Some of that may have less to do with Elder Gong and more to do with how COVID-19 has changed and may continue to change what has been the normal status quo with the ministry of general Church leaders.
But getting back to Elder and Sister Gong, since his recent address was prerecorded, and since the couple had begun isolation before testing positive, there may not be all that much to worry about as far as other senior leaders being exposed to and/or catching the virus.
That brings me to one concern I had about the statement in question: for some individuals who read it or read about it, they may see it as a cause to be alarmed for the welfare of the oldest and most vulnerable leaders of the Church. But from what I can gather, the purpose of the released statement was to advise the Chrch membership and our friends of other faiths that there is no need to be unduly concerned, at least for the time being, about Elder and Sister Gong, or any of the other general leaders, including those likely to be vulnerable.
Sorry. I went off on a few tangents there. I hope what I was trying to convey made some sense to you. Thanks for weighing in here on this news. I appreciate hearing from you, Sam.
Oh I’m certain there’s been some extra precautions. I know President Nelson and President Ballard are in their 90’s, and to be quite honest, Elder Holland looked very unhealthy during the conference (not just the cane gave me that feeling too).
DeleteLooking on social media, it looks like many church members are praying for Elder Gong.
Sam, thanks for these additional observations. There is a reason that Elder Holland looked unhealthy:
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-jeffrey-r-holland-admitted-hospital
According to that, Elder Holland's health issues, experienced in mid-June as they were, and although specifically not related to COVID-19, must have impacted his ability to ambulate. I wish we knew more about that, but at least it seems both apostles are well enough, given the unforeseen circumstances they have had to deal with.
It really goes to show that some issues are not age discriminatory. Elder Holland is the youngest, yet most senior, of the three apostles born in 1940, and only Elders Stevenson and Soares are younger than Elder Gong.
One thing is certain: just as previous apostles (David B. Haight, Neal A. Maxwell, and Robert D. Hales come foremost to mind from recent years) were able to learn valuable lessons from their boughts with ill health, I have a feeling that Elders Holland and Gong, and by extension, their fellow apostles, are learning things they could not have learned any other way. Thanks again, Sam, for taking time to comment.
He did not give that conference talk live, so he should be clear by late this month if the reports are true that the cases were mild.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the talk was pre-recorded is in one of the news stories about the conference.
Jim Anderson, a few moments ago, I offered some of my own observations in reply to Sam's comment. But I wanted to thank you here for providing an initial response. I'd be intrigued to find out how, when, where, and under what circumstances Elder Gong prerecorded his remarks. The preliminary information President Oaks gave about Elder Gong seemed to imply that he was able to record his address from his home, but it almost looked as though the prerecorded remarks originated from the same Conference Center theater with a similar setup to the way it actually looked during the remainder of the conference. Unless I missed something (which is not improbable), there is a lot we may not have been told as far as those specifics.
DeleteI also just want to mention here for anyone reading this thread that the Church News provided the following explanation about Elder Gong's address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-10-03/general-conference-october-2020-elder-gong-covid-19-194439
Thanks again, Jim Anderson, for taking time to comment.